diff --git a/drivers/staging/android/ashmem.c b/drivers/staging/android/ashmem.c
index d5450365769c..86580b6df33d 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/android/ashmem.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/android/ashmem.c
@@ -701,16 +701,14 @@ static int ashmem_pin_unpin(struct ashmem_area *asma, unsigned long cmd,
 	size_t pgstart, pgend;
 	int ret = -EINVAL;
 
+	if (unlikely(copy_from_user(&pin, p, sizeof(pin))))
+		return -EFAULT;
+
 	mutex_lock(&ashmem_mutex);
 
 	if (unlikely(!asma->file))
 		goto out_unlock;
 
-	if (unlikely(copy_from_user(&pin, p, sizeof(pin)))) {
-		ret = -EFAULT;
-		goto out_unlock;
-	}
-
 	/* per custom, you can pass zero for len to mean "everything onward" */
 	if (!pin.len)
 		pin.len = PAGE_ALIGN(asma->size) - pin.offset;